Why Bill never gets Killed
There’s a shot in Kill Bill when The Bride meets Hattori Hanzo in Okinawa to get his steel and learn the art of using a HH sword from him. They do not discuss Bill, another Hanzo associate, but talk about The Bride’s vermin. Vermin of revenge. Finally as part of a guessing game, in quite a lengthy shot Hanzo writes Bill on the glass window with his finger and then walks off. There’s a cut and The Bride comes and wipes off the letters B I L L from the window. She does it in one go, looks at the window and then wipes of the little residue of BILL in the corner.
I can’t get over this shot. Every time I watch Quentin Tarantino’s 4th film, and I have watched it more number of times than MF Hussain has seen Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, I am totally fascinated. If Uma got the wiping wrong, the earlier shot had to be retaken because the finger lettering has to be the same, right? Did she get it wrong and the earlier shot was retaken. How must it have been on the sets? Was Uma under pressure to get it right in the first go? Have there been such twin shots in the past where one shot depended so much on the other shot? The questions boggle my mind every time.
Andre Bazin championed the cause of real cinema, that the film frame is centrifugal and that what you see on that screen, from your iPod to IMAX, is just a part of what is going on outside that frame. There’s more stuff on the right of the frame and to the left and even behind the camera and the whole world out there is a part of that frame. There were Bazin believers like Ozu who had a scene in one of his films where two characters were out of the frame one to the right and the other to the left and they were throwing a ball to each other. So all you got to see is that the rubber ball crossing the frame from one side to the other and you tell yourself, yes there are two people on two sides, yes there is a world outside the frame.
Kill Bill makes me feel that. I can feel that there is a world outside that Robert Richardson frame. I can feel Q standing there and telling U how to swing that sword. I can feel David Carradine in every frame of Volume One while all we get to see of him is his much-wrinkled hand. I can feel Okinawa. I can feel Tokyo. I can feel El Paso. And trust me not all films make me feel that.
What is it about Kill Bill that makes me go back to it every now and then? What is it about a certain film that makes us want to be a part of that world again and again? I came across a guy from Indore who watched Satya every night after dinner for four years. My elder cousin watched Jaan Tere Naam 29 times at a movie hall.
We talk of rewatch value in reviews but what adds up to that value? I believe it’s Bazin! I believe it’s the suspension of disbelief, a primitive form of special fx, where we trust the screen. We BELIEVE it’s happening – not plugging the Shyamalan film, which I couldn’t sit through the very first time – out there. We want to revisit that world the one we left the other night because this world, the one we live in, has got dead again.
I guess this feeling inside is not much different from that silly joke of the dirty ol’ man catching back-to-back shows of a film where a train passes to reveal a woman just finishing her bath. He waits for the train to be late. I wait for Bill to be Killed. But he is alive every time and I always have more unfinished business.
My other Kill Bills
The Big Lebowski (all scenes featuring The Dude and Walter)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (the road trip)
In the Mood for Love (the set-to-music slo mo passing each other portion)
The Godfather (the whole film)
Sonar Kella (the whole film)
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (everything apart from the final scene)
Talk to Her (the whole film)
Agneepath (first half and last scene, don’t like Madhavi portion)
Pulp Fiction (jules and vincent scenes)
The Throne of Blood (the whole film)
Every second of Kill Bill, including title card
It would be nice to know which film(s) makes you go back to it every now and then?
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Oldboy
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind
T2
No country for old men
pulp fiction
there will be blood
reservoir dogs
cars
almost famous
pata chalega to bata doonga…:-)
Yes Dabba, Eternal is another film which has to be experienced again and again… From Tushar’s list, I can watch Pulp Fiction again… Keep it coming guys…
Andaz Apna Apna
Sholay
Pulp Fiction
Terminator 2
Rocky-Rocky Balboa too
My cousin vinny
oceans 11
kung fu hustle
infernal affairs
Get Shorty
jaane bhi do yaaron
Chashme Badoor
Angoor
Golmal
School of Rock
kill bill
rang de basanti
casablanca
big trouble in little china
jaane bhi do yaaron
sonar kella
khosla ka ghosla
there are more but these are the ones that come to mind right now…
oh yes…
matrix
last king of scotland
no country for old man
pulp fiction
choti si baat
katha
dil chahta hai (barring akshaye khanna-dimple sequence)
china town
taking sides
life in a metro (barring dharmndra-nafisa ali)
also
one flew over cuckoo’s nest
masoom (i hav watched it over 40 times)
bazaar(for smita patil and supriya pathak and the song dikhayi diye ki behud kiya)
Holy Gou !
How did i miss Chinatown , Mullholand Drive and Three Colours
forrest gump
Mullholland drive
One flew over cuckoos nest
Amadeus
Pratidwandi
Little Miss Sunshine(I have watched the dinner table talk at least 100 times)
Amarcord
Black Friday
Jaane bhi do yaaron
TAXI DRIVER
i’ve been watchin that film since i was 16 almost everyday.
i just cant forget that film.
btw PRATIM
now that you mentioned this did anyone feel the same way about the scene in taxi driver when travis bickle calls betsy for the last time and the camera slowly goes out of the room and we only hear bickle talking.
Samurai rebellion
Sepuku
Ah! I would like to mention more but I have to go watch these and them write the rest…
Cheers!
fight club
apocalypse now
maqbool
eternal sunshine of spotless mind
hazaroon khwashein aisi
swades
drohkaal
american history x
good bad ugly
fistful of dollars
for a few dollars more
fight club
casino
out of africa
Priyadarshan movies (the woRiginal mallu ones)
padmarajan movies
sholay
true lies
bmw films
bond movies
Mulholland Drive
Jaane bhi do Yaroon
Motorcycle diaries
Shawshank..
Lot many..
During my college time, there was a film which was part of my daily routine (and three cousins of mine) (have seen it more than a 125+ times) for absolutely no reason but Amitabh.. Event today when it comes on TV, I freeze the tv to the specific channel for reliving those days.. not that it was great cinema still shared a great bond with the film..
The film I can go back to any time, any day and any moment is Anand.. have seen it umpteen times and always enjoyed it much more than before.. JBDY, Satyakam, Ijaazat are a few others in indian cinema.. Modern Times and Fiddler on the roof are two hollywood films that I keep revisitng…
Satya
Company
Shawshank Redemption
Zodiac (the DVD has been at my bedside since 23.02.08)
JBDY
Godfather 2
Mili
Trishul
Nayagan
Dil Se
Hera Pheri
Ek Hasina Thi
Johnny Gaddar
forrest gump
black friday
taxi driver
no smoking
slacker
dirty harry
Jaani Dushman
Clerk
Aitraaz
Rudraksh
Tarzan 303
Tarzan-The Wonder Car
not a single entry for Godfather??
Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander
PULP FICTION
American Beauty
TRAINSPOTTING
Lock Stock & 2 Smocking Barrels
Taxi Driver
Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon
Chashme Baddoor
Andaz Apna Apna
Satya
Full Metal Jacket
Natural Born Killers
Pakeezah
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
American Beauty
Lamhe
Pulp Fiction
Naach
Memento
The Prestige
Andaz Apna Apna
Golmal (old one)
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
Chupke Chupke
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Lamhe
Pulp Fiction
Mughal-e-aazam
Kohinoor
Pyaasa
Jaani Dushman (1978)
Ijaazat
Sholay
The Good, the bad and the Ugly trilogy
LOTR Trilogy – couple of lovers of this trilogy used to have watching sessions every month on a Friday or Saturday night.
Eternal Sunshine..
Aawara Paagal Deewana after Paresh Rawal is introduced in the movie
Pulp Fiction
Shawshank..
Pran Jaaye par Shaan Na Jaaye – Now, why is THIS movie not a cult classic? I rarely see it mentioned on PFC..huh..Filmy, very Filmy!!
Fight club..
Hera Pheri
And did I mention that p0rn movie on repeat yet!! :D
Sujata
Madhumati
Andaaz (old one)
Manorma
HKA
Jane Bhi Do Yaaron
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Roman Holiday
Breathless
Once Upon A Time In America
Barry Lyndon
Apocalypse Now
The 400 Blows
Vertigo
Goodfellas
Rosetta
Lives of Others
Dil Se
Dead Man
City of God
Kitab
Mausam
Anand
Sholay
Kundan Shah take a bow! You may be a one-film wonder but what a film! It’s almost on every second list…
“During my college time, there was a film which was part of my daily routine (and three cousins of mine) (have seen it more than a 125+ times) for absolutely no reason but Amitabh.. Event today when it comes on TV, I freeze the tv to the specific channel for reliving those days.. not that it was great cinema still shared a great bond with the film..”
Seems I missed to name the film.. thats AGNIPATH
* Golmal
* Angoor
* Anand
* JBDY
* Lion King
* Bees Saal Baad (Old)
* Padosan
* Jewel Thief
* Shrek
* Aandhi
Hey Pavan, I completely agree with you on Agneepath… But what I find very intriguing is some of the other choices by some of the other friends here… Why would someone keep revisiting City of God? It’s a great film but isn’t it a difficult film to keep watching again and again? French you want to answer that? Love Mainak’s list… Tushar, you keep going back to No Smoking? Which parts? Ritzz was that slip of the keyboard – Naach?????
Interesting topic!
Chungking Express
North by North West
Shaolin Soccer/Kung Fu Hustle
City on Fire
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade
The Wall
Pirates of the Caribbean
Shakti (Ramesh Sippy)
Sholay
Johnny Mera Naam
Tere Mere Sapne (Vijay Anand)
Finding Nemo
Once upon a time in America
Once upon a time in the West
Nayakan
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
Naseeb (actually lots of Manmohan Desai!)
Wages of Fear
Asphalt Jungle
Indian (Shankar)
Rififi
Hathyar (JP Dutta)
Kill Bill 1 and 2
Darkness in Tallinn
Millers Crossing
Blue
For starters:)
Cheers
Shridhar
One more outstanding movie i totally forgot….
Beautiful Girls (Ted Demme I think — Uma thurman, Matt Dillon, Tim Hutton, Mira Sorvino)…. seen it 20-30 times…. and also a fabulous soundtrack)
Chashme baddoor
Jaane bhi do yaaron
Andaz apna apna
Chameli ki shaadi
Naach(which parts? What do you mean by ‘parts’!)
Awaara pagal deewana(minus the stupid songs and melodrama)
The Big Lebowski
As for the no smoking question, I have gone back to the first hour 2-3 times. And then I go back to some sequences. Which one might do in revisiting films. I mean even in all other films, I don’t sit and watch the whole thing from scratch to finish.
More…
Gunda (Has anyone seen this masterpiece??)
LOTR (how did i miss it last time?)
Sin City
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Chupke Chupke
Golmaal
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Andaaz Apna Apna
Maine Pyar Kiya
Golmaal
Angoor
Ijaazat
Lage Raho Munnabhai
Sound of Music
The Philadelphia Story
Love Actually
Chupke Chupke
Padosan
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Fantastic list from everybody. I am surprised that one of my all time “go_back” English movie was not mentioned by anybody : Truman Show. I think that the acting, script, direction, dialogues, etc is just fantastic. I “ALWAYS” finds new things in the movie everytime I see it. I make it a point to keep a a few original DVD’s (copies) for the movies I love.
Regarding Hindi, I love many Amitabh movies and “ALL” Kishore movies. I ALWAYS find some new “ada” in their acting, somewhere in the movie.
kcp
Sholay
Cinderella Man
Bemisaal
Mili
Umbartha(Marathi)
Sleepless in Sattle
Shakti(Actually, many more Amitabh movies such as Kaala Patthar, Trishul, Jurmana, Alap, NAmak Haram, Main Azad Hun and so on)
Shawshank Redemption
Devdas(Dilip Kumar)
Jogan(for sheer chemistry between DK and NArgis)
Party
New Delhi Times
Borat
the prestige
and all lynch films
My friends say that i can watch ant movie any number of times..I have been ‘caught’ so to say in my hostel watchin pretty inane stuff over and over again..but my list of rewatches is…
1)omkara
2)maqbool….both the shakespearen tales told by bharadwaj are just amazing
3)matrix series…call me a nerd..
4)bourne series….”bourne makes bond look like a sissy”
5)love actually
6)life in a metro…amazing coming together of stories
7)Sholay…wat can i say
Khosla Ka Ghosla
Pulp Fiction… right on top, of course
1. Sholay
2. Chitchor
3. JBDY
4. Andaz Apna Apna
5. Nadiya ke Paar
6. Namak Haraam
7. Trishul (i even like tht sachin-Poonam dhillon track)
8. Kill Bill (1&2)
9. Taxi Driver
10.Out of Africa
11.Dombivli Fast (Marathi)
12.Moondaram Peerai (tamil)
13.Bommarillu (Telugu)
14.Mouna Raagam (Tamil – Mani Ratnam)
15. Dil Chahta Hai
Interesting thread.
1) Swades
2) October Sky
3) Apollo 13
4) The Constant Gardener
5) Sea Biscuit
6) Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge
7) Dil Se
8) Main Azad Hoon
9) LOTR : Specially second half of 1st part to first half of 3rd part. I love the Two Towers.
10) American Desi :-) I dig this movie.
The thing with go-back movies is that they are not necessarily the best movies out there…infact, I don’t think a lot of ‘good movies’ make for very ‘good re-visits’…but that could just be me…
My list:
1) LOTR trilogy
2) Guy Ritchie movies
3) Terminator movies
4) Transformers
5) Iron Man
6) Sholay
…you get the idea…
In comedies:
1) Mukherjee’s Golmaal
2) Andaz Apna Apna
3) Munnabhai movies
…the only slow-paced movies I go back to are Lagaan and Swades…they just keep me watching.
I used to re-visit DCH a lot but I think I over did it at some point…can’t sit through it anymore.
1> Andaz Apna Apna
2> Sadma (the whole movie – but absolutely love the platform finale)
3> Satte Pe Satta
4> Anand
5> Chupke Chupke (t-o to hota ha, d-o do hota hai, to g-o goo kyun nahin hota?)
6> Namak Halal (i know its stupid, but i love it, makes me laugh out loud everytime)
7> No Smoking (i like the movie, especially every scene with Paresh Rawal)
8> Saw (the first part, the sequels are a one time watch)
9> The Shining
10> Omkara (yeah baby! Langda Tyagi rocks.)
11> Sholay
12> Yuva (still cant understand why people hated it so much)
13> Equilibrium (love the fight sequences)
14> One Two Three (again a stupid movie, but Sudhir Mishra – Pintos cracks me up everytime, i watch it only for him)
15> The Ring
16> Padosan (no explanation needed)
17> Wall-E
there might be so many more, will post when i remember
The ones that come to my mind as of now-
1. Sholay
2. Satte Pe Satta
3. Don ( Big B)
4. Deewar
5. Golmaal ( old)
6. Chupke Chupke
7. Andaaz Apna Apna
8. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
9. DDLJ
10. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
11. most of the Priyadarshan-Mohanlal entertainers
in malayalam
12. Micheal Madana Kama Rajan (Tamil- Kamal Haasan in 4 roles- for those who havent seen it- please do watch it- its awesome!!!)
13. Pushpak
14. Dil Se
15. Ninaithale Inikkum- Kamal Haasan & Rajnikant ( tamil)
16. Terminator-2
17. The Big Boss ( Bruce Lee)
18. Enter the Dragon
19. Return of the Dragon
20. Manichitrathazhu ( Malayalam)
21. Kill Bill-1 & 2
22. Pulp Fiction
23. Matrix-1
24. The Mask
Will add more as I remember.
:D Most films (90%) mentioned above :D and many more. I am being serious.